Basketball
by iizninja
Summary: When a prank goes too far, Puck decides to denounce the title of Trickster King and become a regular, well-mannered boy. Can Sabrina help him see reason before it's too late? Puckabrina. One-shot with a bit of fluff at the end.


**Forsooth, good gentles! This story has been poking me in the side for a while now and so I obliged it by writing it down. It's been a while since I've entered the fanfiction world so let me know how I do!**

**I suppose this is where I'm supposed to denounce any ties and rights to this story. In truth, I'm Michael Buckley reincarnated Avatar style!  
>Okay, so maybe that's only in my dreams. (T.T)<strong>

* * *

><p>Puck sighed as he turned his wooden sword over in his hands. It was his constant companion, it had gotten him through so much, and now he had to let it go.<p>

He didn't want to get emotional, he told himself that he wouldn't, but his fingers trembled as he laid the sword down into the ground and covered it with dirt. He buried it along with his unicorn, Kraven the Deceiver, and the chronicle of his greatest pranks. Essentially, he had just buried himself.

Puck glanced at his reflection in the pond of his room. He wasn't used to having clean skin, having proper clothes, having his hair combed back the way it was. He didn't like it –no, he hated it –but all of this had to be done. No matter what people thought of him he did have _some_ sense of propriety; he could practice _some_ digression if he felt like he had to. He knew when a prank had gone to far, when the damage was more than what he could control. When people he loved were hurt he knew it was time to knock it off.

He steeled himself as he gripped the handle to his door far too tightly, trying to get up the courage to walk out of his room and down the stairs. His mind kept telling him that it wasn't too late. He could still run around in the mud, dawn his old and worn clothes, and pretend that this absurd notion had never even crossed his mind. Puck ignored that part of him and pulled open the door.

He walked down the stairs trying to keep his face indifferent to the perplexed looks that he received from the family at the breakfast table as they took in his appearance.

Daphne dropped her spoon into her cereal and the milk came sputtering back up at her, making her flabbergasted face drip. Jake, who had been pouring juice, was frozen in place causing him to overfill his cup to the point that it was spilling onto the floor. Red had stopped mid-chew and Henry had started to choke on the pancake he'd been eating.

Sabrina stared at him with horror written all over her face. She looked completely frozen in shock, so still he couldn't even tell if she was breathing. On instinct he let a small smirk slip onto his lips before putting himself in check. Being a better person meant that he couldn't make fun of their reactions, no matter how badly he wanted to.

Veronica Grimm was the only one to maintain her composure. She gave him a forced, if not confused, smile as he sat down at the table, and handed him the cereal box.

"Thank you," he said to her with a nod as he took the box from her and poured some into his bowl. That wiped the smile off of her face.

Sabrina choked. "What did you just say?" Her hair was short now, thanks to him, and it fell into her eyes. Combining with the scratches that now marred her skin it made her stare a bit more menacing.

He wanted to make a smart remark at her question, but he had to persuade himself not to. It took a moment for him to reply (thanks to the internal battle raging inside of him) and no one could understand how hard it was for him to respond with simply: "I thanked her for giving me the cereal."

Sabrina put her hand on the table, raising herself up a little in her seat. "You're not Puck. You can't be. Puck doesn't say 'thank you'. Especially not just for some dumb box of Frosted Flakes."

Puck nodded at her. "I guess you're right. I'm not going by _Puck_ anymore. Call me Robin."

"I don't think he's feeling well," Red whispered to Daphne, who still hadn't wiped the milk off of her chin. Daphne nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Puck.

Jake got up and grabbed a towel to clean up the mess he made, all the while shooting strange looks at him. The man broke out into a small, confused smile. "Well, I hate to admit it, but you clean up pretty nicely… _Robin_."

"Thank you," Puck said. It was awkward coming out of his mouth and Sabrina caught him on it.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's the second time you said 'thank you' _Puck_," She accused, putting emphasis on the fact that she wouldn't call him Robin if he paid her. He couldn't help but smile as she continued. "Are you playing some sort of elaborate prank?"

He poured the milk into his cereal, and took a bite. After completely chewing it and swallowing he answered, "No. Actually, I've given up on pranking."

Henry shook his head, astonished. "What the he-?"

"Henry!" Veronica chided him. "I think it's good of… _Robin_, to recognize the need for him to start maturing." She smiled awkwardly at him and then returned to her food, taking smaller bites than normal.

Daphne shook her head, confused. "Are you sure he isn't dying? Or maybe he's been replaced with an evil twin. Or… maybe our Puck _was _the evil twin and this is his brother. Or…" Daphne paused, her brow furrowing. "Well, whatever's going on it's got me zounded for sure."

"Daphne," her mother chided quietly. "Why don't we just eat?"

The rest of the breakfast continued in a tense silence with Sabrina glaring at Puck suspiciously to the point that he shifted under her gaze. After finishing his bowl of cereal he cleared his place at the table, along with Daphne's and Red's, and put the dishes in the sink.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Only one helping?" Puck nodded, ignoring his stomach as it growled that one bowl of cereal hardly constituted a well balanced breakfast.

"Actually…" he started. The people around the table seemed to perk up at the thought of him wanting more food, but he dashed that by finishing: "could you pass me the water… _please_."

That word 'please' felt like rubbing sandpaper across his tongue. He hated saying it so much that he had to excuse himself from the table so he could go to the bathroom and drink as much tap water as he could hold to wash the taste from his mouth.

~Sisters Grimm~

Sabrina stared after Puck, suspicious. Her head and torso still hurt from earlier that week and she kept blowing her too short hair from her eyes as she stood up from the table.

She followed the boy's path to the bathroom and stood there with her arms crossed along her chest, waiting for him to open the door. Something was up, and she wasn't about to let Puck pull the wool over her eyes. When he finally came out of the bathroom he didn't seem surprised to see her standing there with her foot tapping impatiently and her hair slipping back into her face.

"We need to talk, Puck," she said to him. Before he had the chance to correct her and say that his name was Robin, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up the stairs to his room.

When they finally made it to the innermost part of the enchanted area she forced him to sit down on the ground and spill the beans.

"What's this all about?" Sabrina asked gesturing to the hair, clothes, and skin that were far to kempt to be the boy she'd known for years.

"What's what about?"

"Don't give me that, Puck," she growled. "You look like you've been through a carwash. Why isn't your skin dirty? Why isn't your hair messy? Why are you dressed like prep school Barbie?"

He crossed his arms. "You go too far, Sabrina. I'm not, nor will I ever be, a Barbie."

Her finger pointed at him accusingly. "Why did you just call me Sabrina?"

"That's your name, isn't it?"

"But you _never_ call me by my name. Just tell me, why are you doing all this?"

Puck sighed, his shoulders sagging tiredly. "Because… because I'm sorry, Sabrina."

Sabrina frowned. "Sorry for what?" Puck let his head hang down as he toyed with the strings of his shoes.

"You know what I mean."

Sabrina thought back to the events that happened just a few days ago. "Dang it, Puck, that wasn't your fault!"

"Yeah, it was. If I hadn't-"

"Maybe _indirectly _it was," Sabrina held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else. "But you couldn't have known. None of us could've…"

He shook his head. "That doesn't change the fact that I almost got you killed."

Four days ago:

A murderous screech rang out through the house, so long and frightening that the birds outside flew from the trees in an effort to escape. Elvis started to bark at the sound and all of the Grimm family covered their ears as they waited for the name to follow.

"_Puck_!" Sabrina yelled. She stumbled down the stairs quickly, her rage radiating off of her so strongly that even the girl's mother didn't have the courage to ask her what was wrong. Instead the whole household looked at her, realizing what had made her so irate. There was a deflated basketball glued to her head.

"Where is he?" Sabrina demanded in a low voice; with her face fire engine red and her eyes burning with hatred she was terrifying. Her father mutely pointed towards the kitchen, wincing as she stormed past him. Daphne cautiously followed her, more in an effort to make sure her sister didn't murder the boy, and watched Sabrina grab one of the butcher's knifes from out of its holder.

Sabrina caught site of her target. He was perched atop the refrigerator, a blue popsicle hanging out of his smirking mouth. The blonde girl growled and threw the knife at Puck, who dodged it just in time for it to make its mark right where his head used to be.

"Whoa," he marveled, smiling wildly at her. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the-" he admired the ball glued to her hair, "-_court_ this morning?"

Sabrina hooked her finger, eyes ablaze, and calmly said: "Come here so I can kill you."

"That's the deal you're offering?" Puck teased. "Do the world a favor and never become a lawyer." Another knife went soaring towards him and he jumped to his feet just in time for it to land in-between his legs. He looked down towards his crotch area and raised an eyebrow as he plucked the still vibrating handle from the wall. "Now _that's_ a low blow."

Daphne came up and gingerly removed the next dagger from Sabrina's hand, trying to move her sister a safe distance away from the fairy.

"Are you crazy?" Daphne demanded from the boy as she yanked her sister into the living room. "Do you want bruises to match that popsicle?" Puck grinned at her with blue teeth and then blew a kiss to Sabrina. She didn't take it well.

"Uncle Jake," Sabrina asked darkly, "How much longer is the sentence for premeditated murder versus a crime of passion?"

His eyes widened and darted to his brother for help. When Henry shied away from his daughter Jake cleared his throat and responded, "In this case? I'd say about twelve years."

"Then I won't think about it," she said, reaching for one of the books on the living room table. She flung it at the fairy who immediately backed away.

"Are you out of your mind?" He demanded. "I'm allergic to those, ya know!"

"Shut up you baboon," she threatened. Puck, sensing what was coming, smiled at her and mouthed the words that came out next in rapport.

"This is unforgivable Freakface! You've gone too far!"

Veronica put a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Sabrina, try and calm down."

"Calm down?" Sabrina turned to her mother in disbelief. "Mom, look at what he's done!" She gestured to her head.

"I know. Let's see if we can get this thing off of you." The woman shot a look of disapproval towards Puck as she led her seething daughter up the stairs. The moment Sabrina was a good distance away from them, the rest of the Grimm family heaved a sigh of relief.

At that moment Red came in through the back door from her walk. She admired with faint curiosity the mess that had accumulated through the kitchen and into the living room and smiled at Daphne.

"Sabrina finally realized what Puck did?" She inquired in the soft-spoken way she had of talking.

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "You knew?"

Red nodded to the boy who was sitting on the floor. "He was prancing around the kitchen this morning like he'd won the lottery. I figured he'd done _something_."

"I was not _prancing_," Puck protested. His words fell on deaf ears and he returned to his popsicle, grumbling unintelligibly.

Henry tapped his chin, "I wonder why this prank was especially bad."

Red quirked her head, "What do you mean?"

"Well," he explained, "She's never gotten _that_ mad before. Honestly, she just scared me more than Veronica ever has and that's saying something."

Daphne shot the most threatening look she could muster with her messy hair and her pigtails askew at the fairy. "Because Puck was _warned_ about this one specifically and he still choose to do it anyways!"

Jake frowned, "When was he warned about gluing a basketball to her head?"

"He and Sabrina came from the future and that was one of the things Puck warned himself not to do because he said he'd regret it." Daphne missed the confused looks she received as she continued, "I guess I shouldn't be so zounded that he didn't even listen to _himself_ but it's still a jerky thing to do." She stuck out her tongue at the boy.

"Zounded?" Henry asked.

Red explained; "Zounded: to be incredibly surprised or astonished at something." When Henry gave her a funny look she went farther and said, "I'm working on chronicling all of Daphne's words into a dictionary so we can speak in our own language." Red smiled at them and then went to clean up the mess in the kitchen, humming a quiet song to herself.

"Well," Jake said as he watched the light way the little girl in the red hood moved throughout the house with faint amusement, "At least someone's happy."

Daphne shrugged, "She gets like that after a walk in the forest. It seems to calm her down."

Jake's eyes took a new and dangerous light to them. "Hmm… yes I suppose it does…"

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><p>Up in her room Sabrina blinked back tears as her mother tried to remove the basketball without cutting her daughter's long hair. Veronica had to marvel at the work Puck had done. It was intricate and meticulous. Each hair was glued to the ball in such a way that if she dared rip it off Sabrina's scalp may come with it. If only, she thought, Puck could put some of his ingenuity to good use. Then he'd truly be an asset in the war against the Scarlet Hand.<p>

"I'm sorry hunny," She said to her daughter. "There's no way I can get this off without hurting you."

"So… you're going to have to cut my hair?" Sabrina asked timidly. She hadn't truly cut her hair for over two years now and she loved how long it was. If Puck was going to be the reason she had to start from square one he wouldn't live to see another day.

Veronica pondered the situation for a moment, clucking her tongue as she gingerly moved her fingers through the glued hair. "Maybe I can cut the basketball down in size and then we can wash it until the glue looses its stick. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like I'll be walking around with basketball on my head for about a month," Sabrina replied dryly. She gave her mom a smile, however, and watched as she exited the room in search of her sharper scissors.

The girl had to wonder how he did it. Somehow or another the fairy had a way of sneaking into her room to play pranks on her and she could never catch him. Being the Queen of Sneaks she should know when someone was trying to beat her at her own game, but she never realized until she woke up that the Trickster King had struck again.

She angrily tossed her pillow at the wall, wincing as the basketball jerked hard on her hair. She hated, _hated_, Puck at the moment and not just because he glued playground equipment to her. His future self had said he would regret doing this prank, and now that he'd done it Sabrina couldn't help but wonder what there was for him to regret? She obviously didn't succeed in killing him in that version of the future, so she failed to understand what was so bad about it.

The feeling of knowing something bad was going to happen and not knowing what it was made her antsy. She was relieved when her mother came back into her room with her scissors and a hat to cover the rest of the basketball that wouldn't come off. Her thoughts moved from the future to the present as she felt her mom pull and yank at her hair.

When Sabrina walked downstairs with the baseball hat on her sore head she could see everyone in the room tense up, including Puck. Somehow the thought of him shuddering at her presence was incredibly funny and she abused the power by taking a threatening step towards the boy. He flinched back even more, and she dawned a satisfied smile before sitting next to Daphne and Red. Veronica was right behind them and gave the group a covert thumbs up to signify that Sabrina was in a much better mood.

Uncle Jake was smiling too, but his was a bit more wild. He rubbed his hands together excitedly and announced his plan. "I think we should take a camping trip."

Daphne was the first to respond to that, giving an over-enthusiastic nod and rambling about all of the camping like things they could do and about how she'd never been camping and about movies that she'd seen camping in. Red seemed indifferent, but it was the older Grimm's that were a bit more concerned.

"Jacob," Henry said, "Do you think that's safe? I mean, we _are_ in the middle of a war."

"Exactly, Hank. We're in the middle of an internal war. We can't expect to win a battle against the Hand if we're too busy fighting ourselves." His brother nodded thoughtfully, and didn't say anything.

Veronica still didn't buy it. "Jake, what if something happens?"

"I'll be there, Roni," he said. The nickname that she hadn't heard in a while stopped her from protesting as he continued, "I'll be with them the whole time."

"Well I think it's a dumb idea," Sabrina grumbled furiously picking at the lint on her jeans.

Puck snorted, "That's just because _you're_ dumb." Before Sabrina could work up more anger towards him Jake put a hand to his lips.

"That's exactly why we're doing this. So, go upstairs and get dressed for the great outdoors. You only need to pack a sleeping bag, we won't be gone for more than a night."

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><p>Sabrina plopped down in front of the camp fire, glaring at the boy sitting next to her. Puck had, in her opinion, a bit too much fun being outside. He'd rolled in almost everything, even some things that Sabrina knew wasn't mud, and was grinning wildly at her as he smoked a cockroach over the fire.<p>

Daphne and Red had started talking in a dialect that wasn't intelligible to anyone else and Uncle Jake was trying to tune his ukulele to play some old camping songs as he enjoyed the feeling of being outside. His father never got to take him on many camping trips, but the ones that he did go on Jake would never forget.

"Well, this is fun," Sabrina said dryly. She glanced up overhead at the large puffs of clouds that were forming and blocking the stars. She closed her eyes and prayed that it wouldn't rain.

Puck gave her a look, and then offered up his roasted cockroach to her. She gave him a reproachful sneer and leaned as far away as she could. He shrugged and then popped it into his mouth, successfully earning a shuddering gag from Sabrina at the crunch it made. Clenching her fist in irritation she idly poked at the dying fire.

"Uncle Jake, I think we need more wood," she observed as the flame receded even more and the sparks dimmed and slowed in their pursuit of their fule.

Jake looked up from his instrument and frowned. Setting the ukulele down he leaned in towards the fire pit, his brow furrowing and his eyes becoming more alert. The frown on his lips met his finger as he told the group to quiet down and everyone watched him carefully as he stood up and reached down into one of his many coat pockets.

He pulled out a small, red crystal and observed it carefully for a moment. Sabrina watched him turn it over in his hands and found herself holding her breath as the tension in the group grew with each passing second. Jake's eyes widened and he broke through the silence with a deafening yell.

"RUN!"

No sooner did the words leave his mouth, two large and dark dragons flew in and circled around the group, snapping and growling. Daphne, the first to react, grabbed Red by the arm and dragged the girl quickly through the forest. She threw a single look back at her sister to make sure Sabrina knew where they were going, before running full speed. The larger of the two dragons almost seemed to smirk at the three left around the camp and it blew a scolding fire onto the small stack of wood they had, reducing it to cinders and setting the trees around them ablaze.

Sabrina made eye contact with Puck, and then looked at Uncle Jake. His eyes were dark, bitter, and focused as he looked into the eyes of the kind that killed Briar. He was already pulling out plenty of magic to kill an army and there was no doubt that he could easily finish off both of them. She didn't want to leave him there but his last order was still ringing in her ears. _RUN!_

Puck didn't give her a choice. He gripped her hand and then took off into the opposite direction of the dragons, the fire to their backs and the thick black fumes rolling ahead. The two ran hard and fast, Sabrina's lungs burning as the acrid smell of smoke ran past them and the fire played games with their vision. The entire world was red and foggy, and she couldn't tell which way was which.

Coughing, she brought her arm up to her mouth, her eyes burning. The two pushed on through the woods getting a good distance from the original camp site, yet Sabrina still felt like there was something menacing behind the thick walls of burning trees. She wheezed and leaned back against a thin tree, trying to catch her breath.

Puck yelled over the sound of the crackling fire, "I'm going to fly up and try to find the house!" Before she could tell him that "up" only meant more smoke he had taken off into the heavy fog, leaving her in a confused sort of turmoil. She didn't want to move in case he couldn't find her afterwards, but a terrifying _swoosh_ sound went past her and brought a wave of burning air into her face.

She tumbled back into the bare, low-hanging branches of the tree, the dry and hot wood scratching at her face and hands. She struggled to get free from the its hold when another sound, a growl, resonated through their part of the forest. Sabrina stopped dead as the smaller of the two dragons revealed itself to her, circling her like a lion its prey.

She tried to move from underneath the tree but something had her caught in its branches. Daring to take her eyes off of the beast in front of her for a moment, she looked up and saw that it was the small bit of basketball that couldn't be removed earlier that had strung her up. With a choked cry, she yanked backwards away from the tree and the dragon. Nothing happened and so she yanked again. And again, harder and more desperate with every extra second that the dragon's blood-red eyes burned holes into her. When her she finally did break free she wasn't fully intact. Some of her hair, and the last of the basketball, was still tangled in the wiry branches and she could feel blood start to trickle down her face from her scalp.

Fear taking its place over pain she ran as the dragon finally lunged at her. Its claws came so close she could feel the air from them and she tried to run faster. The heat and smoke combined with the blood running into her eyes made her run in circles, stumbling through brush and scraping her knees on rocks. The dragon followed her, keeping her reigned in a certain area, not letting her get to far and blocking her path with more fire. It took her a moment to realize that it was toying with her.

_Didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?_ She thought as she grabbed a branch and swung hard at its jaw. The crack was loud and the dragon staggered back for a moment, giving Sabrina a chance to run. When it recovered its eyes told her that play time was over.

It bounded after her and swiped, its claws catching her and spinning her to the ground scratching the surface of her torso –bringing her to her knees with a cry. As its large claw came up once more to end her with a swipe, just like Briar had died, Sabrina heard the thing howl in pain and turn away from her for a moment. She didn't know what had gotten to it, but using the opportunity she dragged herself as far away as she could without causing herself anymore pain. She pressed a hand to her stomach, realizing that blood was pouring through her shirt like never before, and rubbed at her eyes as her scalp continued to bleed.

She could hear the battle end from a distance and the ground shook with the impact of something hitting it hard. After dragging herself for over fifty meters she finally tired and let herself lay still as her body was racked with coughs. Each cough brought on a new onslaught of pain as the claw marks on her torso screamed in agony.

"Sabrina!" She heard Puck yell. Her mouth and throat were beyond dry; she couldn't yell back to him and with the blood loss and pain she was swaying on the line between consciousness and blackness.

"Sabrina!" This time it was closer, more clear. Her eyes started to drift closed as rain began to fall to the ground.

"Sabrina…" Puck was finally next to her his eyes ablaze with terror like she'd never seen before. She couldn't keep awake any longer and finally blacked out, missing whatever it was Puck said next.

Present:

"Puck, none of that was your fault," Sabrina said, trying to reason with him.

He shook his head, refusing to meet her eyes, and mumbled something under his breath before saying, "If I hadn't glued that stupid-"

"And if I had let my mom cut my hair the first time. And if Uncle Jake hadn't suggested that we go camping. And if the dragons hadn't come and attacked us. And if Daphne had chosen to have orange juice instead of apple for breakfast… Puck, it's _not your fault._"

"When I saw you in the forest-" his voice broke and he ducked his head for a moment, furiously scrubbing at his eyes before tears fell. "You were covered in blood and you didn't open your eyes and I thought…" he stood up, pulling away from the hand that she was about to lay on his arm. "I'm not pranking anymore. Not after that, not after almost getting you killed."

She stood up as well. "Don't be ridiculous. You _love_ pranking."

"_Loved_. All the pranks in the world aren't worth…" he sighed and shook his head again as his voice trailed off.

"C'mon, you idiot," Sabrina said to him with a smile. "You're the _Trickster King._ The Prince of low expectations, the villain to rule them all. You can't just give up on what you've spent your entire life doing!"

"I have to. I'm not the 'Trickster King' anymore, and I never will be," Sabrina opened her mouth to protest but he didn't let her speak. "Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. It's over, I'm growing up and it's time I face that. So I swear to you on my father's grave that I'll never, ever, play a-"

Before Sabrina was quite aware of what she was doing she grabbed the tailored shirt he was wearing by the collar and yanked him into a kiss. She let her lips linger on his for a moment, breathing in the clean smell that was nothing like Puck. Unlike their first kiss, this time _he_ was the one stunned and when she pulled back his green eyes were wider than wide.

He opened and closed his mouth in an attempt to speak, blinking rapidly as his brow furrowed, but before he could speak Sabrina quickly slapped him lightly on the face.

"Now, shut up and roll around in the mud. You look stupid with your hair like that." She ruffled the combed-back style until it fell into his eyes just like her own hair kept falling into hers. He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile too. Sabrina walked passed him to leave the room, her face heating up a bit at what she had just done, when he called from behind her.

"Hey, Grimm!" She turned around and narrowly missed a clump of mud that slammed into a tree beside her.

"Watch it, Stinkbaby!" She yelled at him, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. He laughed as she turned around and left him to return back into the Puck she knew best.

After she had closed the door to his room a sigh escaped her and she leaned back, eyes tilted towards the ceiling.

Puck was annoying, obnoxious, hubris to a fault, and was never clean. He played pranks, he blew out retorts like some people blew out air, and he had an ego the size of Asia. He was _constantly_ up to no good... and that's just the way she'd have him.

* * *

><p><strong>Lately I've been chilling with a chinchilla. No, really. My friend just bought a chinchilla, named Barney, and I love him so much that I visit him everyday. He's so fluffy and adorable that he made me want to write this. I don't really understand much about why my brain works the way it does, but if you liked it then be sure to let me know. I'll pass the message on to Barney.<strong>

**Peace! iizninja God Bless!**


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